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Monthly Archives: March 2014

Things so far have been interesting in the first quarter of the year…and boy, it’s been moving like nobody’s business.

I finally got through my depression of losing my best friend last year along with dealing with the loss of Aji. It has been a journey of soul-searching and revelations about myself. You don’t realize what you have in you until you have to go through the problems. I, like everybody in America, have been bombarded with those drug commercials that tell us to ask our doctors for this medication despite the side effects. What’s even creepier about the ads are that the way they promote themselves. So, through some time off when I got home, I decided not to bring work home, and just veg out in front of the tube some nights while completely avoiding it in others. Decided not to go on to my computer or mini-laptop and just unwound.

The focus is back, the drive is coming back, the desire to live up to the meaning of my name is coming back. So is the desire to get back to Hawai’i. And to get back to my serial BETWEEN WORLDS.

This year, I realized that my goal to begin a family had begun. When I was 45, I had told my family about my immediate plan to adopt family. When I figured out that I wasn’t kid material and most adoption agencies focus on two-parent households, I decided to try adult adoption. Through some help I managed to adopt a daughter, and looking forward to adopt a son. It’s very unconventional but since when have I been about convention? I have never been.

My daughter is one of the sweetest people to grace my life. I now know what it’s like when a child calls their parent “Dad” or “Mom” – it feels warm and nice. She has children and I can’t wait to meet them. So, if they want to come see “Grandpa”, I’ll have to get my place from looking like pre-Hoarders as into something that will be nice. I am going through my stuff and getting rid of stuff I don’t need. I had already knocked out a lot of stuff that had already met the dumpster, clothing recyclers and when I go and feed the homeless.

The desire to do my serial had hit a fever pitch. Thanks to Story Plus in Adobe’s Creative Cloud service, I can go to my account, write away and export it to a PDF. Coupled with listening to some music by Tangerine Dream, Patrick O’Hearn, Suzanne Ciani, Jim Bartz, Steve Roach, Vir Unis and my own stuff, the picture has become clearer as I write the scripts. Trying to get the characters back as well as adding new ones resulted in retelling the story from the ground up. I have nearly 20 years of footage to retell the story and it is going better than expected. I am even doing a special episode dedicated to my friend Jose, who was in it for a couple of episodes. I’m also facing the hardest task about recasting a character, but still, the story will go on for at least another year.

This year will mark the fifth year that I first went to Hawai’i. It’s amazing how time flies and the friendships I have made endured. Five years ago, I went to my first ever female impersonator show. People were asking me how come I didn’t flinch or feel uncomfortable in that situation – and my answer is that I looked at it as theater because it was all that was. Being an extra in The Amen Corner nearly 30 years ago made me comfortable about it – it’s a two-story set and it gives the meaning to the phrase “Don’t look down.” On one night when the audience was shouting “Encore!”, I thought it was meant for the extras as well. I climbed upstairs to the church set, walked to the edge, took a bow and looked to my right not realizing the other extras didn’t follow me. I smiled, walked ff the set and immediately went to the bathroom. That experience made me appreciate theater in all its forms so watching a drag show is small potatoes. So get ready, Hawaiian Airlines – my searches are piling up to a one-way ticket. And Maui Seaside and Maile Sky Court: you two are in my sights. And to my friends, let’s shake it up some more.